There was one thing Josh Heupel wasn’t willing to do in the battle for David Gabriel Georges and it says a lot about him as a head coach
Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel made a decision during the recruiting battle for David Gabriel Georges that says a lot.
Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel is playing chess in the recruiting battle for 2027 five-star running back David Gabriel Georges while everyone else is playing checkers.
Last month, the Ohio State Buckeyes — the Vols’ top competition in this battle — made what appeared to be a shrewd move by offering 2027 defensive back Jordan Darren Djila, who is “best friends” with Gabriel Georges (both players are natives of Canada and attend Baylor School in Chattanooga together).
Djila’s other offers are from programs like UT-Martin and Kennesaw State, so this was obviously nothing more than an attempt by Ohio State to improve their chances with Gabriel Georges.
The Ole Miss Rebels, the third team in the mix for Gabriel Georges, followed Ohio State’s lead and offered Djila in late June.
I suggested that Heupel and the Volunteers should make the same move, just to solidify their chances with Gabriel Georges.
But to this point, Tennessee hasn’t publicly offered Djila, and that was the right move by Heupel (I was wrong and the college head coach making millions was right…go figure).
Here’s why.
According to On3’s Chris Low, there’s skepticism among some folks at Baylor School that the offers to Djila are “committable” (in other words, they’re skeptical that Ohio State or Ole Miss would take a commitment from Djila if Gabriel Georges commits to Tennessee).
“Ohio State and Ole Miss have also offered scholarships to Djila, although there’s skepticism among several at Baylor that those are genuinely committable offers if Gabriel Georges goes to Tennessee, which has not offered Djila,” wrote Low.
Low also added that both Gabriel Georges and Djila say that “any kind of package deal won’t be a factor in their decisions.”
At first, I didn’t understand why Heupel wouldn’t extend an offer to Djila. I figured it would be best to make the offer just so Ohio State didn’t have an advantage.
But now it makes perfect sense. Baylor School is an important recruiting ground for Tennessee. The relationships there are very important. The last thing Heupel and the Vols need to be doing is jerking around one of their players just to win a recruiting battle.
Good on Heupel for getting this one right. He didn’t cave to the pressure and he protected a key relationship for Tennessee.
And who knows, maybe there’s a behind-the-scenes conversation at some point where Heupel makes it known that Djila can walk on at Tennessee if Gabriel Georges signs with the Vols.